


Are You Blushing?

by KrysKrossZee



Series: Not A Goodbye [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Existential Crisis, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Quidditch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 05:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23006545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrysKrossZee/pseuds/KrysKrossZee
Summary: Oliver and Percy seem like chalk and cheese to any outsider but the truth is that they are more alike than anyone knows. During their final year at Hogwarts, they grow closer.
Relationships: Percy Weasley & Oliver Wood
Series: Not A Goodbye [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739446
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36
Collections: HN Siriusly Amazing Writing Challenge





	Are You Blushing?

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I would just like to thank Hermione's Nook for really pushing me to write again this year. I took part in their soulmate fest and then in this writing challenge and it's got me writing again!
> 
> Specifically I would like to thank KoraKunkel, Pleasantmoonanchor, and R1ver_S0ng for helping me out with betaing and naming this story!
> 
> I would also like to thank MB for betaing and my lovely writing group Keep Calm and Write Something for listening to my rambles and supporting all my writing endeavours!

Oliver didn’t particularly care that he’d dragged mud through the castle for the seventh time that week. In his opinion, it was all totally worth it anyway - as long as they continued to win their matches. 

It was also worth it to piss off Perce.

He didn’t know why he enjoyed winding the ginger boy up so much, but he knew that it sparked something in his stomach. He generally put it down to adrenaline because he got the same sort of sensation when he was flying. Alicia often teased him that it meant something else, but she was being daft and he made sure to make her aware of that any time that she brought it up.

Whatever it was, it gave him some great satisfaction that there was now a trail from the front doors to the dorm. Sure, he could - and probably should - have showered down at the pitch, but where was the fun in that?

He kicked off his boots and stripped down to his underwear before opening the door to head to their own bathroom showers but stopped when he came face to face with the Head Boy. He flashed Percy a grin as he tried to slip past him, but Percy grabbed his upper arm.

“Not so fast, Wood.” He said under his breath, a tone to his voice that Oliver couldn’t quite name, but he knew that it wasn’t a happy one. Though, when it came to Percy, it could be hard to tell what was a good tone.

“I gotta shower, Perce. I’m standing here practically starkers.”

Oliver was sure it was probably the light but he saw a sort of glow come over the other’s cheeks. It made him want to laugh but he held that back as he patted his hand and headed off down the hall.

* * *

When Oliver returned to the dorm, Percy's curtains were drawn around his bed. Seven years of rooming with the guy had taught him that this meant 'Do Not Disturb' and even though it was so impossibly tempting to pull those curtains back and annoy him further, he valued his life too much for that. He was all too aware of how much time Percy dedicated to his studies and though he'd never admit it out loud Oliver actually admired his work ethic.

Instead Oliver grabbed some clean clothes from his trunk and pulled his own curtains around his bed as he dropped his towel. Once changed he allowed himself to fall back on his bed and let a groan escape him. His back was still in knots after all the practices he'd been putting in lately, but he was determined to keep on keeping on, to continue winning. Percy's future relied on what grades he got while Oliver's relied on how well he played.

He allowed his eyes to close for a few minutes, which he supposed could have been more than that when the next thing he knew was that someone was prodding his waist.

"Oi, can you keep it down?"

Oliver opened his eyes to find Percy glaring down at him. He realised as he stretched slightly and sat up against his pillows that he'd probably been snoring. He flashed Percy a grin. He was sorry that he'd distracted the other from what was the most important thing in his life, but the grin itself was instinct. There was just something about that particular disapproving look that gave him a warming feeling in his chest.

"Gonna let you in on a secret now, which may shock you, so you better sit down." Oliver patted the bed next to him and watched as Percy just continued to glare at him instead. "See all these beds?" He continued regardless. "They're for sleeping in. You wanna study? Go to the library."

"Don't be an ass." Percy said, his voice cold, but there was a tone to it that Oliver couldn't quite name.

"Go back to your fortress of solitude and study, Perce." Oliver hummed, his grin softening as he let his eyes close again. He let out a yawn before he heard the floorboards creak as Percy moved away from his bed. 

* * *

Oliver ran his fingers over the words in the book that he was attempting to read for Transfiguration class but getting absolutely nowhere with. It wasn't that he was against studying after all, even though his priorities lay in Quidditch. He wanted to do well in school, it just seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he was getting nowhere. He had even tried to trick his brain into thinking this was fun by studying outside by the lake as it was a warmish spring day.

Eventually he had to admit defeat with this particular text though and he slammed the book shut.

"Woah, hey. What did that book ever do to you?" He heard a familiar voice ask.

Oliver suppressed a sigh as he looked up slowly to see a particular ginger haired boy smiling down at him. The smile in itself was a surprise. Smiling wasn't generally something that Percy did, but Oliver wasn't going to complain. The smile lit up the boy's face and in turn, Oliver could feel a mirroring warmth in the pit of his stomach, not unlike the feeling when he wound Percy up.

"It's not letting me absorb its knowledge, that's what." Oliver sighed as he set the book down in the grass beside him. He made sure to be gentle with the placing, though all he really wanted to do was lob it into the lake. Somehow he didn't see that going down all too well with Percy, especially with the book being a library one, so refrained from doing that for now.

Percy gave a nod that had an air of knowing to it as he surprised Oliver by sitting down next to him. "You look tired, Wood." He commented. 

Oliver flinched slightly, unsure how to take this accusation or how he was meant to respond. He didn't understand where it was coming from either. If they had been friends, he would have put it down to concern but as it was, they weren't all that close.

"You need to look after yourself, you know?" Percy continued. 

Oliver could feel the other boy's eyes fixed on his face now and he knew that would allow him to see the bags under his eyes just that little more clearly. It was true though, he hadn't really been sleeping well lately. They had so much homework, along with their end of year exams and the Quidditch Cup Final. He knew this was it, the home stretch, and stretch definitely seemed like an appropriate word for what was going on. He was stretched to the max.

"Pot. Kettle. Black." He decided to say in reply, his eyes meeting Percy's as he tried to read what the other was even doing here. It was unusual in itself to see Percy outside of the castle much less talking to him as if he were a normal human being and not a thorn in his side.

Percy gave a light chuckle and averted his gaze, though Oliver supposed that he could just have been looking out across the lake. Oliver kept watching him however, his eyes fixed on the ginger as he tried to work out what was even going on. The happiness in Percy's expression made him relax a little though, which was a first for that week.

He was silent for a little while before his curiosity took over and he just had to ask. "So why are you so chipper, huh?" As the words left his mouth, he realised that it wasn't just curiosity that made him ask it, it was that he was a little jealous that others were able to be happy when he was so stressed.

"Chipper?" Percy turned to face him again, his eyebrow raised slightly in a way that made Oliver squirm but he tried to suppress that as Percy replied. "Yeah, okay, I guess I am. I got a job offer by owl this morning."

"A job offer?" Oliver repeated, his eyes widening before he could even attempt to control his emotions. Even though he was fully aware that this was their last year at Hogwarts, the fact that anyone had plans beyond the end of the week actually made him a little nervous. 

"Yeah." Percy nodded as he looked back out across the lake. "The Ministry offered me an internship for the summer."

Oliver paused for a moment as he wondered why exactly it was that Percy was even telling him all of this. They weren't exactly friends, but then he didn't think that Percy had that many friends to actually tell.

"That's great. Congrats." Oliver said with a gentle smile. "I bet Penelope's super proud of you."

Percy was silent for a moment before he responded with a hum and the words "Not especially. I haven't told her. We don't speak anymore."

Oliver frowned as he tried to figure out how a relationship would work like that, not that he was any sort of expert on relationships at all. He'd never been in one but from what he'd seen from his friends, generally you had to talk to your partner. He decided he better not question that though and instead just nodded, finally managing to look away from Percy, his eyes going to his own hands.

"You're actually the first person I've told." Percy continued, his confession surprising Oliver whose frown deepened but he kept his eyes downwards regardless, as he realised he'd actually been staring at the other boy for what would ordinarily be considered an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Not your brothers?" He asked slowly. Fred and George were two of Oliver's closest friends so he knew that if he ever had news like this then they would be two of the first people to know. It somewhat surprised him that Percy hadn't told them, or even Ron, who he was familiar with.

"No. They'd only tease me and I want to enjoy this for a day or so more." Percy explained and Oliver knew he was right. As much as he adored Fred and George, he knew that they could be merciless when it came to winding Percy up. Oliver didn't like the idea of anyone but him being able to do that.

Oliver let himself look up and flashed Percy a small smile. "Well, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Wood." He heard Percy whisper in reply.

* * *

Oliver lay with his hands behind his head as he listened to Percy read from the latest assigned chapter for History of Magic. He didn't know why they'd started studying like this but as he watched the clouds pass on by, he knew that he wasn't going to question it now. And for whatever reason, it worked. Oliver was now a lot less stressed when it came to homework assignments and he even felt like he had a fighting chance when it came to their final exams, though of course this had not yet been put into practice.

Percy seemed to enjoy reading to him too, so his motives weren't entirely selfish. Over the last couple of weeks, he'd noted that Percy really wasn't kidding when he'd said that he and Penelope didn't talk anymore and slowly he'd realised that the two had actually broken up. Percy needed a friend as much as he did, so even though Oliver's reasons were mainly selfish, he was able to convince himself otherwise for brief periods of time.

Slowly Oliver closed his eyes but snapped them open again when Percy kicked his foot.

"No sleeping." came the other's words of warning.

"You're the one always telling me to look after myself." Oliver argued, a yawn escaping him before he propped himself up on his elbow so that he could see the ginger boy a little better.

Percy was leaning lazily against a tree. This was a side of Percy that Oliver had never seen before, at least not before he'd received his job offer. Percy rarely ever relaxed and it warmed Oliver's heart to know that he could now.

"You want to pass your exams, right?" Percy asked, an eyebrow raised slightly, the book now facing down on his lap though.

"Sir, yes sir." Oliver hummed as he let himself fall back in the grass again. "But I also want to catch up on about eight months worth of sleep."

He felt Percy kick his foot again and he couldn't help but grin at that. It was strange, but in a good way, to know that the other boy cared about him enough to want him to do well in school. He knew how much school meant to Percy after all.

"Wood." His tone was warning, but also somewhat playful, enough to make a grin spread across Oliver's lips anyway as he slowly sat back up.

He shuffled around so that he was able to lie back and rest his head against Percy's thigh, still grinning as he looked up at him. From this angle, he reckoned that he could probably count each and every one of Percy's freckles.

"I'm listening, Perce." He told him as he made his eyes go theatrically wide. "Promise I won't fall asleep on you."

"Ee. Perce- _ee_." The ginger boy muttered but he picked up the book and started reading again regardless.

However, Oliver found that he couldn't concentrate on the words that were being said. His counting of Percy's freckles lead to him getting lost in the other's eyes. Had they always been such a beautiful shade of hazel? How come he had never noticed until now?

It wasn't until Percy cleared his throat that Oliver was aware that he had in fact been staring. He realised that he'd probably been making Percy a little uncomfortable so he looked away, a soft blush creeping up over his cheeks before he could stop it. He didn't move otherwise though and Percy only patted his shoulder before continuing with his reading.

* * *

Oliver let out a breath that he felt like he had been holding in for weeks. He'd just come out of his _final_ final exam and he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't know how he'd done yet, and wouldn't for a while yet, but it was over and done with. He couldn't do any more to and while he felt like that should have been a terrifying realisation, it was actually a huge relief.

"So?" A familiar voice asked and Oliver glanced sideways just in time to see Percy fall into step beside him.

"Only time will tell." He told him with a smile. While exams were far from his favourite thing, he knew for a fact that he had at least scraped a passing grade and that was more-or-less entirely thanks to Percy and the help that he had given Oliver over the course of the last month. "Thank you." He added as he moved to bump his shoulder against the other's.

"What you thanking me for?" Percy asked with a hum as the pair of them walked out of the castle into the grounds.

"I dunno really." Oliver admitted. "You helped me get through all that homework and then the exams. And being here now, even after that's all over and I'll never have to look at a textbook again. But you're still here."

They were out in the courtyard now as Percy stopped and turned to face him. "I'm not your tutor. You know that, right? If I were, you'd have been paying me for a start." He pointed out.

Oliver gave a slight nod. He got that, he just wasn't sure that he totally understood what they were then. He really enjoyed spending time with Percy, that was for sure, but he honestly hadn't really even thought about what the two of them were. They hadn't been friends before but were they now? He let his eyes scan over Percy's face as he tried to read what the other thought they were.

"You do know that, don't you?" Percy was frowning slightly now in a way that made Oliver's heart twinge. He knew what that look meant, it meant hurt. He was used to seeing it on Percy's face when he saw his siblings off enjoying themselves without him.

"I.. Yes." Oliver said slowly. "I think it's just taken me until now to have seen that." He had to admit it. He had to be honest with Percy, even if it meant saying things that might potentially wound him.

He watched as Percy reached out a hand towards his and stared as their fingers entwined. This was definitely new territory for the both of them. Sure, they'd been rather close as of late, but hand holding was crossing a line of intimacy that made Oliver question everything.

He didn't pull away though because as Percy's hand took his, he realised that he _wanted_ Percy to hold his hand. In fact, he realised that he wanted Percy to hold him. His eyes widened at this revelation and he looked up to meet Percy's gaze.

To his surprise, Percy was blushing. That was something else that was new. Usually the ginger boy was so well put together that emotions were something he forgot about.

"Are you… Blushing?" Oliver asked slowly, a bemused smile flickering across his lips.

Percy looked away, his teeth pulling at his lip slightly. "What? No."

"Did _I_ get the ever-stoic, hardcore, total badass Percy Weasley to _blush_?" Oliver couldn't help but grin, whatever it was that they were, it was certainly different than what they were at the start of the year.

"No, it's - it's the cold." Percy retorted, though he still didn't seem to be able to even look in Oliver's direction which only made his grin turn into a smirk.

"Huh. It's the cold. And not the fact that you're now holding my hand." Oliver hummed as he took a step closer to Percy and with his free hand he reached out and gently turned his head.

"N-no." Percy stuttered out, his voice cracking over the small word and that was all the invitation that Oliver needed to lean forward and press a kiss to his lips.

The kiss was sweet and not at all what Oliver had expected, though kissing wasn't generally something that he thought that much about if he was completely honest. That wasn't to say that this was totally out of the blue though. He had wondered on a few occasions now what it would be like to kiss Percy, but he hadn't wanted to push anything, up until now.

As he pulled back he saw Percy staring at him with wide eyes and he wondered briefly if he had crossed the line. He pushed that thought away quickly though. Percy was the one who had taken his hand into his first, Percy wanted the intimacy, or at least that was what he was now going to tell himself as the other boy just stood there, unmoving.

Oliver watched him for a moment, deciding just to let Percy process what had happened before he decided to give him some space. He made to pull his hand away but Percy's grip tightened ever so slightly instead. 

The next thing that Oliver knew was that Percy was taking his other hand and pulling him close. Their lips met again, but this time Percy was kissing Oliver back. Oliver knew it was a cliché, but he felt as if fireworks were going off inside his head and his heart felt as though it was about to pound right out of his chest.

Percy eventually pulled away though, a hum escaping him before he gave a slight nod.

"What?" Oliver asked breathlessly as their fingers entwined and their eyes met. He tried to read Percy's expression but that proved pretty much impossible just then, especially when he didn't seem to be able to pin down his own thoughts for longer than a millisecond.

"I like you, Wood, that's what." Percy told him and Oliver felt his breath pretty much catch in the back of his throat. "And I've waited a long time to be able to kiss you."

Oliver stared at him, his mouth opening and closing in a way that resembled a fish. He sort of wished that he could have said the same but he hadn't even known that they were actually even friends before today. All he knew was that he'd enjoyed how close he and Percy had gotten over the last few weeks. Eventually he managed to form words though. "I thought you always hated me."

Percy shook his head quickly. "No, no, no. I don't hate you." He let go of one of Oliver's hands and moved to cup his cheek instead. "I've never hated you. I've found you infuriating at times but I've never hated you."

Oliver smiled as he leaned against Percy's hand. "Well that's good to know. I'll let you in on a secret - I really enjoy winding you up."

Percy let out a laugh before he pressed a soft kiss to the tip of Oliver's nose. "Trust me, I've noticed."

Oliver couldn't help but grin at that. Today was a good day, that was for sure. Almost like the next chapter in his life was starting, though he knew that he had to actually graduate first, but that was a minor technicality. He leaned in to kiss Percy again, just a light peck, but the fact that he could do even just that made his heart sing.

* * *

Oliver's eyes scanned the platform as he looked for Percy. He'd promised to meet him there for the journey back to London but so far he hadn't seen him and the train was due to leave any minute.

He hadn't seen Percy since breakfast which was strange in itself. The two of them had been practically inseparable since their first kiss, but Oliver knew that they both had their separate groups of friends to say goodbye to. He'd gathered the team for one last meeting where he tried not to get mushy, but had somewhat failed on that. He'd then been cornered by Fred and George who wanted to know why he was spending so much time with their brother. He'd somehow managed to avoid giving them a straight answer but that had made him feel more than a little queasy. The twins had practically been his family for the last four years, hiding anything from them felt wrong.

It wasn't that either he or Percy even wanted to hide, it was mostly just that neither of them really knew what was even between them. And summer would bring its own challenges with it. Percy was due to start his internship in just three days and then next week Oliver was meant to be enrolling into a summer camp for Quidditch players over in Germany. He hadn't been selected for a team as of yet but he was hoping that this camp would help. He honestly couldn't imagine doing anything else with his life after all.

With a hum he glanced at the watch on his wrist and decided that he better get on board. As much as he loved Hogwarts, he didn’t want to spend the entire summer there alone. He walked down the corridor of the train, running his finger along the railing as it hit him that this was the last time that he would ever get to ride on this train. He swallowed thickly, knowing that the lump in his throat had the potential to turn into something else if he wasn’t careful enough to get a handle on his emotions.

He found an empty carriage to slip into although he knew that being alone wasn’t necessarily the best thing for him just then. The thing was though, he knew he had a lot to process and there was only one person that he wanted to share that all with, but that person hadn’t materialised.

He managed to heave his trunk up onto the shelf after glancing up and down the corridor to check that Percy wasn’t looking for him. He let out a sigh before he sat down heavily on the benches and ran a hand through his hair. He then closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cushions.

“Sickle for your thoughts?” came a soft voice after a short period of time.

Oliver slowly cracked one eye open and let a small smile trickle onto his lips when he saw Percy had entered the compartment and was now sitting down beside him. “Just sad to see it go.” He said quietly, not sure how to explain it, though he knew that there was a chance that Percy was experiencing similar emotions to him.

"It's you that's going." Percy commented matter-of-factly though he moved to wrap an arm around Oliver's shoulders, offering him some comfort.

"Yeah, into the future and all that jazz." Oliver let out a small sigh. Honestly, he was dreading it. He was dreading having to be a grown up and having to make it put in the real world. And he was dreading this being over.

Percy gave the smallest of nods and Oliver had a feeling that his thoughts were along the same lines as his and while he didn't want to bring it up, he knew that they both would need to get some closure before the end of the journey.

* * *

Oliver was lying on the seats now with his head on Percy's lap and just watching him as he read whatever book he had his nose stuck in this week; he couldn't see the title from this angle though, not that he cared too much about that if he was completely honest. It wasn't as if he read much himself or planned to read anything for a long time after the pair of them went their separate ways.

Eventually Percy put down his book, lying it pages down, spine up and met Oliver's gaze. His fingers moved to meet Oliver's cheek, dancing over his skin. Oliver watched him for a moment, too afraid to speak at that moment especially as he saw the tears that were starting to form in the other's eyes.

It was Percy that broke the silence that had fallen between them. Oliver didn't know whether to be grateful or not for that one.

"I won't say goodbye to you." Percy's words rang through the compartment even though they were practically said in a whisper. "Even though we're going our separate ways for now, I won't say goodbye to you."

Oliver chewed on his lip in an attempt to stop the tears from forming in his eyes that he realised he didn’t actually have any control over. “I won’t either.” He whispered. He knew that if they didn’t say goodbye then they were never really over, but that didn’t stop it from feeling like it was over. They had no idea when they would see each other again and that killed him.

Percy leaned down and pressed a kiss to Oliver’s lips. It was soft and sweet and even though Oliver felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest, the kiss made a small smile appear on his lips.

“I love you.” The words left Oliver’s lips before he could stop them. Part of him wished that he could take them back. Now that they were out in the universe, he couldn’t pretend that his feelings weren’t real anymore.

Percy, however, didn’t miss a beat as he said “I love you too” and that at least took the sting of those being some of the last words that Oliver would say to him for an undetermined length of time.

Oliver moved to sit up and without saying another word, he kissed Percy passionately, letting the other feel every little bit of emotion that he was. When he pulled away, he could see that they had already re-entered London and it panicked him slightly. There was nothing that he could do now to stop the inevitable.

Percy must have seen the panic in Oliver’s eyes because he was cupping Oliver’s face in his hands, as if keeping his eyes on him and only him. Oliver appreciated it and let his eyes meet Percy’s. He tried to ignore the thought that this was the last time that he was going to be here, the last time that he could get lost in those eyes for a while.

And all too soon, the train came to a stop.

Oliver tried not to let the knot that had formed in his throat become the sob that it threatened to evolve into as Percy leaned forward and kissed him one more time. Their foreheads pressed together and they just sat like that for a little while.

It was Percy who broke the silence again, but this time Oliver really wished that he had remained silent. “I guess I better go find my family.”

Oliver gave a gentle nod as he pulled back. This time he wasn’t able to stop the tears that were forming in his eyes and he knew that he probably looked more than a little pathetic as they sat there. This wasn’t the way that he wanted Percy to remember him.

“Until we meet again.” The words were practically tangible in the air around them and Oliver wasn’t even sure who had uttered them but as Percy pulled away entirely and stood up, he had to look away. If this wasn’t goodbye, then he wouldn’t watch the other walk away.

“Until we meet again.” He whispered as he looked out onto the platform at all the other students reuniting with their families. He knew that soon Percy would be one of them and he would be left to find his dad somewhere in the throng of happy parents. He was looking forward to seeing his parents, he just wasn’t ready for the next chapter of his life to start.

But as he listened to the compartment door slide open and shut again, he knew that he had no choice but to start it. He wiped his eyes on the back of his hand and swallowed thickly as he tried to get a grip on himself.

He stood up and grabbed his trunk off the rack while muttering to himself, “Until we meet again.”


End file.
